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Rio Olympics 2016: Sathish Sivalingam finishes 4th (Weightlifting)

The 5th day of the Olympics saw India’s Sathish Sivalingam participate in the finals of Men’s 77 kg Weightlifting. Sathish, who was the Gold medalist in the same category in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, posted an entry weight of 330 kg and managed to lift 143 in the first round of snatch. Only Deni of Indonesia lifted lesser than Sivalingam in the first round. In the next attempt, the 24 year old managed to lift 5 Kgs more to end with 148 kgs. The third attempt didn’t go well for the lifter as he failed to lift 153 kgs. At the end of the Snatch round, Sivalingam was at 4th place with Indonesian lifter Deni and the Romanian lifter Captari ranked below him.

The first round of clean and jerk event saw Sivalingam exceed expectations as he lifted 181 kgs and got a score of 329 after the three attempts. For a while, this performance put the Indian on the top of the charts. Nico Muller of Germany, however, bettered Sivalingam’s efforts and lifted 332. Even Muller’s joy didn’t last too long as Spain’s Eduardo Mata Perez went past both of them with a lift that weighed 338 kgs.

As things stood, after Nico Muller failed to lift 185 Kgs, Sivalingam stood a chance to earn the third place for himself by lifting the same weight. But that was not to be as the weightlifter from Tamil Nadu couldn’t lift 186 kgs and his best in clean and jerk remained a lift of 181 kgs. With Colombia’s Caicedo making light work of heavy lifts throughout the qualifiers, Sivalingam eventually fell to the 4th position to go out of the reckoning with a lift of 329kgs. However, the lifter must be credited for putting up a brave show and punching above his weight in front of some of the giants of the sport.

Andres Mauricio Caicedo topped the group B with a lift of 346kgs and was followed close on the heels by Spain’s Eduardo Perez who was second behind him with a lift of 343kgs. Germany’s Nico Mueller took the third spot by edging out India’s Sivalingam with a lift of 332kgs.

Group A action remains before the medallists are decided, but Sathish at 4th place in Group B, is out of contention for a medal berth.

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